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Deluxe Wave 2-The Next Big Things

Well, we all now know that Ephant Mon won the Fan's Choice #3 poll and that means we can expect a second wave of Deluxe figures in our future. What three characters do you think need the Deluxe treatment to join Ephant Mon in the second wave (assuming Hasbro repeats a four figure cycyle)?

Here are my picks for those characters that would best complement Ephant Mon and give us some much needed figures and accessories:

Death Star Gunner - I'm not the first to suggest as much, but if the new Princess Leia shows us anything, it is that a carded figure with a huge gun is a possibility. Naturally this new incarnation would feature articulated knees to sit at the controls of his gun. I think a vital further adaptation would be articulated elbows and biceps like the new Imperial Officer. This would give a greater range of poseability at the controls.

Queen Amidala (Theed Throne) - I've offered this one up before, but I suggest that the approach taken should be the same as that with the Emperor in the Cinema Scene pack, permanantly seated. If you just have to have Queen Amidala watching pensively at the window as Battle Droids and tanks fill the public avenue, I suggest you get out and buy one of the readily available Theed Throne Room Amidalas that presently litter the store pegs. The throne for this figure would feature a slide-back panel to reveal a compartment containing a pair of stubby pistols for Amidala and Panaka to foil Nute Gunray's nefarious plans. The set would be rounded out with the large, circular view screen featuring the Trade Federation Viceroy's image on one side and the mysterious swirl pattern on the other (so you don't always have to look at Gunray's ugly mug).

Torryn Farr - She's the communications officer of the Hoth Rebel base and in need of a figure. Her accessories would include a removeable headset which is tethered to a command console (preferably with string for greater flexability) which is complete with at least one chair. Ms. Farr's legs would of course be jointed at the knee for sitting. And the translucent blue command screen would finish out the set, complete with a tethered pointer so Torrynn or K-3PO could monitor potential activity in the system.

Well, there you have it, my wish list for wave three. Remember, Ephant Mon counts as the fourth figure in the wave because we know he is coming. And no, I did not forget Hermie Odle, I just felt he is an obvious choice for the Deluxe line. I wanted to look at other types of characters who's accessories do as much to define their presence in this line as Ephant Mon's ponderous bulk. Do you agree with these choices? Do you have any of your own? Come on, help me let Hasbro know what we want with our Ephant Mon!

Since Hasbro would probably never include two Han Solos in one assortment, here's a fourth option:

4. Yoda's hutt with Yoda, cooking pot/fire, table and snake

"To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence… When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

I think a ROTJ Jabba the Hutt would be the ultimate deluxefigure. I just didn't include him on my list thinking that he would be too big? I don't know. If he would fit, then he is on the top of my list.

I'll have to say at this point that to suggest sqeezing Jabba into a Deluxe figure package is to risk something along the lines of the Jabba Glob figure. Too small and all wrong. I think that Jabba should be released as a stand alone (like say any of the recent vehicles, a full case contains only one item) in a case of 6 or 8 figures. He needs a boxed, "Super Deluxe" treatment rather than being relegated to a card. I have posted my version of an ideal Jabba the Hutt (ROTJ) set to another thread, but to make a long story short, a set should include Jabba done to propper scale with the figures, his tail curled and featuring the minute wound site pecked by Salacious Crumb. A new SEATED Salacious Crumb, a slime-stained C-3PO and a SEATED Princess Leia (with a chain Jabba can hold) would round out the included grouping of figures. The throne would be to accurate scale to the figures and feature hidden wheels to roll forward and sculped or attached features like all ornamentation, hides, pillows, the hookah and bowl (with tasty creatures), the brazier and spit with removable Bantha (?) roast, and the arch behind Jabba with the Wol Caba****e, its long tongue jutting out into the air.
This, for my money, would be the ultimate Jabba the Hutt set and could easily hit a retail price point of under $20.00, $25.00 tops. I know that everyone wants Bubo, Yarna, and any number of other characters too, but I left them out because I think they are better as carded figures while a slimed 3PO and a seated Leia make poor carded figure fodder while also rounding out the set. See my other posts to find my thoughts on Yarna, Bubo and others.

Another obscure choice for the Deluxe line would be Gragra, the Chuba vendor from Episode I. I think she would be ideal because by herself she is not as interesting a figure as she would be in a Deluxe form. As a deluxe figure she could have her cookstand and lots of overhanging racks of attached and removeable Chuba. This would be great for diorama builders as well as general collectors. Gragra is unusual looking enough in her own right to warrant figure treatment and would be a good counterpart to such figures as those in the Mos Espa Encounter Cinema Scene.

I'd definitely say that if we don't get a new Jabba the freakin' Hutt SOON, I am going to lose it. This figure is long overdue, I just hope the delay is due to the fact that they're trying to get it RIGHT.